Fraud (The Frenzy Series Book 5)

by Casey L. Bond

  “I agree he should go, but I’m staying.”

  “He won’t be safe in the woods by himself.”

  Saul shook his head. “He’d be safer there than here.”

  Delilah watched us with alert eyes, taking it all in. “You truly care for both of them,” she stated matter-of-factly.

  “I do,” I affirmed.

  She smiled at Ford. “I think you should do as your sister asks.”

  “I don’t give a shit what you think, Delilah! You’re nothing but a liar. You probably have something waiting out there to eat me as soon as I step foot back in those woods.”

  Delilah smiled. “There is nothing that will harm you. I’ll see to it.”

  “Do you give me your word?” I asked her.

  “I do,” she said with an inclination of her head.

  “Then send him home.”

  “Porschia, no!” Ford yelled as he was drawn out of the tent by an invisible force, shouting and yelling for me to tell her to stop. But I couldn’t. Ford needed to live. He needed to go back home, stay in Blackwater, and grow up to be a good man with a long life.

  “Go straight home!” I yelled, tears choking my throat.

  “Do you want to go with him?” I asked Saul.

  “Not happening,” he said, his fangs bared at Delilah. “I refuse to leave you here with her.”

  I’d become an expert liar. I lied to Porschia, my friends, and even myself. Because I wanted to believe that for a few seconds, I could feel normal and not be the monster that I was. When I told her I was in frenzy? That it was the reason I bit her neck without numbing her at her first rotation? Lie. When I told her where I was from and how old I was? Lies. When I told her I loved her? That was the truth. The only truth that mattered now.

  Every untruth I’d woven was unraveling at my feet. Porschia was not going to understand any of this and I didn’t know if she would forgive me. She hadn’t forgiven Saul easily. I’d been confident for so long, but now? My stomach churned with disgust. I thought I had more time. I was wrong.

  I could sense Porschia’s distress, but that wasn’t what immediately worried me. I felt the heat and an arid wind blowing across the clearing, and then from the center appeared a bright light and Ford fell from the shining sliver onto the forest floor. Reaching him quickly I asked, “Hey, are you okay?”

  “I’m fine,” he said, angrily ripping his shoulder back from my hand. He backed away and stared at me, stunned, mouth agape as he tried to figure out what had happened and what was happening now, his mind tripping over common sense. But then again, nothing about magic was sensical.

  Suddenly his eyes glazed over, an opaque film covering his irises, and he stood and began to walk back in the direction of Blackwater. He was spelled and would find his way home safely, under her protection. She must have received a vision as well, and now she’d found Porschia. I’d felt her draw near for days; I just had no idea how close she actually was.

  I had to reach Porschia before it was too late. I just hoped she would understand. Either way, she was going to be pissed. Omissions were just as hurtful as blatant lies. But sometimes lies were necessary. Sometimes they were shields.

  I always planned to tell her everything about my past, the vision… everything. Soon. But things kept happening, going wrong, and then the time was never right. Either way, the time was now. It was forced, but necessary all the same.

  Watching Ford until he became part of the darkness, I stepped toward the center of the clearing and called the light. It collected into a ball in the center of my palm and I launched it forward and opened the barrier, toeing off my boots. It had been too long since my toes last felt the warm sand.

  The wind grew wild, making the tent fabric flail, tugging and pulling against the ties that bound it. Delilah clapped loudly once and it died down again. She looked to me and smiled before exiting the tent the way we’d come in.

  “What is going on?” I said, my voice a shrill whisper. My head ached, my heartbeat pounding relentlessly against my skull.

  Inside, the tent was sparse, but there were a few items placed here and there; one of which was a black lounger. Sensing my distress, Saul helped me over to it. “Maybe it’s the dry heat, Porschia. You should sit down.”

  I sat on the lounger, letting the back of it hold me up, while Saul stood at the foot of the piece of furniture. He kept his distance; his body taut, like the string of a bow, tense with the arrow pulled across it.

  “Hungry?”

  “Very,” he admitted.

  There was nothing to say. I couldn’t feed him because I wasn’t well. I didn’t know how to get food here, or even if there was food here—besides Delilah—and whatever this place was, whatever she was, I had a feeling we wouldn’t be able to feed from her easily.

  His leg bounced nervously, mimicking my feelings. I was weak and undeniably scared.

  “How do we escape?” I whispered.

  Delilah reappeared soundlessly and answered, “You don’t, but this might help ease the pain.”

  From behind her, Tage appeared. “Tage?” I sat up straight and he rushed to me, making Saul shift and move across the tent a few feet away. His familiar hands held me tightly; his fingers combing my hair, his soft lips comforting me.

  Delilah stood back, shrewdly taking us in. She stared over his shoulder, waiting for something, but I wasn’t sure what. And then she spoke.

  “Tageset, I cannot believe this.”

  He stiffened and pulled away.

  “Do you not think it is time to tell her?” she questioned. He turned to face her, but she continued her lashing. “Have you not toyed with the poor girl enough?”

  “Quiet, Sekhmet,” he growled.

  She bared her teeth and fangs began to grow long and thin from her incisors. She was a night-walker? How did Tage know this creature? What the hell was going on, and why were we in this place? A dam of questions broke inside me.

  “Tage, what is going on?” My voice shook, afraid of his answer and fear that it might break me. He hadn’t seemed to know Delilah before now, yet he called her ‘Sekhmet’ moments ago. What did it mean?

  “Tell her, Tageset,” she said, enunciating his name.

  I glanced worriedly at Saul, whose face reflected my concern. We were in trouble.

  Tage turned to me and grabbed my elbows. “I haven’t been honest with you, Porschia,” he began. “I wasn’t turned just before reaching Blackwater, and I wasn’t in Frenzy when I first fed from you. I’m much older than that.”

  My lips quivered. “How much older?”

  He blew out a short breath. “You know how the Infection began, and then how vampirism rose at the same time? There were two curses: one placed upon the people of Egypt, and one to affect Pharaoh himself. Ramesses was a stubborn man. He refused to let the Israelites leave Egypt, even after so much suffering. The rivers were turned to poison. The crops were eaten away. His people, his family, would starve, but Ramesses was an inflexible man. He stood firm in his decision because the slaves gave him something his own people couldn’t, or wouldn’t. He always wanted to build bigger, grander, and taller, but nothing was ever enough. However, when his firstborn children were cursed—all the children born to his wife, Nefertari—he changed his mind. It wasn’t just one child, his firstborn son…it was seven. You see, Ramesses fathered many illegitimate children with his concubines, but they were spared. It wouldn’t have bothered Ramesses if they were turned into monsters. He had nothing to do with the bastards he fathered. However, the children of his true love were made into monsters. They became the first vampires. And that hurt him so deeply that he finally caved. I didn’t think he would. My father was unbreakable up until that point.”

  Tage’s eyes faded from the blue I’d grown to love into a honey gold. He waved a hand down his body and his clothes – the fitted t-shirt and jeans – faded away. He wore a skirt of black fabric fastened with a golden belt.

  “You’re one of them,” I said breathlessly. �
�One of the cursed children…one of the first vampires?”

  He nodded. “I am.”

  Sekhmet laughed. “He is the first, Porschia. He is THE first vampire. I was the second born, the second vampire created.”

  They were brother and sister. That meant they were older than… I backed away from Tage and moved toward Saul. A line had seemingly been drawn in the sand beneath our feet. “So this was all a game to you?” I asked. “Were you just using me as some sort of sick prize in a contest with your sister?”

  “No,” he answered immediately. “I wasn’t.”

  “Why are we even here? Why were you in Blackwater?” When I bumped into Saul’s chest he steadied me, which earned him a growl from Tage.

  “There is a way to stop all of this,” he explained. His eyes, roiling honey, begged me to understand, but how could you understand something that made no sense? How could I understand that Tage wasn’t really the Tage I’d grown to love?

  My heart was failing, its pattern skittish and as flustered and confused as I felt. But my mind was still reeling. “How?” I asked. “How do we end it?”

  He pursed his lips together and then admitted, “You.”

  I could see it in her eyes – the betrayal reflected back at me – and it cut me like a thousand knives. “For years our father made his sorcerers teach us everything they knew. They taught us magic and made sure we fed only from them, hoping their enchanted blood would bolster our budding talent. Over time, our skills with the art grew. We met with seers frequently as part of our ongoing studies, and before our father died, one seer had a vision; a revelation. In the West, one would arise, one who held both curses.”

  Porschia covered her mouth. I could see her fingers trembling.

  “He could see your face,” I told her, remembering the man’s withered fingers on my temples and how he transferred the image into my mind. Thousands of years had passed, yet I never forgot it. Behind her stood a grove of deciduous trees and a dark curtain of falling water, but what I saw were her eyes and the strong set of her jaw; mere hints of her iron will and determination. I searched for many centuries until I found Blackwater, and the moment when Roman led me to the square and she was there? I felt the weight of the curse begin to lighten. However, she was human. Either the seer was wrong, or she wasn’t yet cursed.

  “How am I supposed to help with anything? What else did the seer see?” she asked, frustrated.

  Sekhmet smiled, walked toward me, and stopped at my side. “We are the only of The First still living, and we have honed our ability to heal over the years. Tageset can heal the curse of vampirism—if he so chooses.” She looked at me pointedly. “And I can heal the Infection, as you call it.”

  Porschia’s mouth gaped open. She looked at me and asked, “Is that true?” Tears filled her eyes. “Together you could heal everything?”

  “We could,” Sekhmet answered cryptically, and then turned to me.

  “But brother, I have another idea for you to consider.”

  I watched as my brother’s anger reached a tipping point. He inclined his head to Porschia, a girl not worthy to lick the sand from the bottoms of his feet, before striding toward me and ushering me out of the tent. “What are you talking about?” he spat.

  “Let’s talk somewhere more comfortable.” I flicked my hand toward the dark tent, sealing it. It was, in effect, a cage for the little birds inside—one bird in particular, who’d become very valuable to me. If my brother wasn’t on board with my new plan, he would meet the fate of our other siblings. I’d established the pecking order very early on, and wasn’t afraid to end it now. Tageset had always been kindred to me; a like mind with similar ambitions. I wondered idly if the hybrid had changed him too much. Had she weakened him? Only time would tell.

  Tageset waved his hand imperiously and a gilded tent arose from the sand with walls of solid gold that gleamed, reflecting the sun and his power. The walls of gold began to shimmer and turned into gauzy fabric that let the warm breeze flow through the structure. “You haven’t lost your style, I see,” I responded dryly, and led the way inside.

  There were chaises, lush fabric, pillows, and statues. It felt like home. I walked up to a golden statue of Bastet that stood taller than I. “Thank you for this.” Out of all the gods, Father valued the feline deities the most. They were ferocious, fierce in battle, and showed little mercy. They would end anyone who stood in their way. That was why I wanted to be exactly like them, and over the eons had honed my magic to mimic their ability to take human and feline form. It was why I chose to become Sekhmet, the warrior goddess, instead of pretending to be like her, as I did when I was a child.

  Tageset smiled. “I thought you’d appreciate it.” He walked to a table where a decanter of clear water stood beside two slender glasses. Filling them both, he brought one to me and sipped from his own as we settled into opposite seats. The water turned to blood, thickly slicking the sides of the cup and sliding down the glass. “You’ve had another vision?” he asked softly.

  “Only of you and the doubly-cursed,” I replied. “It was how I found you, and her as well.” The seer may have told me about the vision, but he didn’t provide an image of Porschia. Tageset never divulged it, either; he just begun to search secretively, alone. I killed everyone he loved in my quest for answers.

  “What’s changed, then? What other possible alternative is there to ending these curses?”

  I squinted my eyes to see if anything in his face would tell me of his loyalty. I was so sure it was with the girl, even after all we’d been through. After all I did for him, he was going to choose her and I would have to kill them both.

  “Do you remember our father’s dreams of a great city?”

  “Of course I do,” he said, taking another sip of blood. “He spoke of them often enough.”

  “You also went with him, to meet the architects and builders. You were by his side.”

  Tageset nodded. “I was.”

  “Tageset, I was not with you and him, but I can still see his vision. I could see it then, but I see it clearly now. We could bring it to life.” Scooting to the edge of my chair, I sat my glass on the carpet at my feet. “We hold everything right in the palm of our hands. We could build an empire and rule it all. The cursed could be cured, and in gratefulness they would worship us. We would become great like Father.”

  I tried to make him see, creating a shimmer in front of him and showing him exactly how I saw it in my mind. “They would build great cities and temples in our names. Our faces would be everywhere, in their homes, on the great monuments. The statues would be of us; not of the gods, but of us. The people would be indebted to us and would do anything we asked. We would literally rule the world. There is nothing stopping us, my dear Tageset. Of course, we could start here. It’s a fairly large continent.”

  Through the shimmer were blue lakes and rivers with temples on their banks. There were newly-built homes with paved streets in gridded patterns. “The ruined buildings would have to be burned, but in their place pyramids and great buildings would be erected to honor our past and display the strength and power that only you and I possess now.”

  I showed him how people could rebuild homes and families and be happy again instead of living in these abysmal conditions.

  “What about us?” he asked pointedly. “Where would we be in all of this?”

  “At the center of it all, Tageset. We could rule, side by side, a force to be reckoned with. We could level the gutted cities with a wave of our hands. We could start a new civilization. Together.”

  “But you would allow the curses to still exist? How would that help anything?”

  I huffed in frustration, miffed that his vision and foresight was not as grandiose as mine.

  “I’m only trying to see your full design, Sekhmet. Don’t get upset with me.”

  “You speak like a westerner. How many years have you dwelled here?”

  He smiled. “Too many, apparently.”

 
Wait. “How long ago did you receive a vision about her?”

  He shifted in his seat. “The seers gave me a vision over a thousand years ago, but it wasn’t clear. It was foggy,” he squinted. “A new one flashed through my mind just six months ago, but I had to search far and wide for her. It wasn’t like I was given a map, and when I found her, she was still human.”

  Was my brother lying? What did he mean, she was still human? “When did she receive both curses? Did you inflict one to cause this shift?” If so, he was brilliant.

  “I did not. She was bitten by her sister, who bore the plague of rot, and in the middle of the change, she drank the blood of a vampire.”

  “How was that so readily available?”

  He groaned and leaned back in his seat. “It was the way of their people. Hunters and huntresses wore rings with vampire blood in them in case they should meet an Infected in the forest. They considered it better to become a monster than suffer from rot, and Porschia was a huntress.”

  I hissed at him. “She is no huntress. I should show her what a true huntress is!”

  “If you kill her, your plan will never come to fruition. The seer said that in order to release the curses, we each must heal her.”

  I hated when Tageset was right, but there were other ways. “Why didn’t you heal her of the vampirism and then have her bite a person with the plague of rot? Did you try?” He didn’t answer, so I prodded him once more. “Do you wish to die, brother?”

  He stiffened. “Not at the moment, no.”

  “Is that why you didn’t heal her and release her from the curse? You wish to die now? After all this time?” My brother wasn’t a conqueror. He wasn’t trying to search for power or to lead a nation. Until now, he roamed the world alone, single-mindedly seeking the bearer of both curses. He wanted to cure her with me, because once we did so, we would both return to the earth. Dust to dust. Well, I didn’t care for dust and had no intention of dying.

  He was quiet a moment, looking thoughtfully into his glass. “I thought I did.”